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2017 (7) TMI 753 - AT - Central ExciseCENVAT credit - MS Sheets, angles, MS plates, channels, MS Flats, Beams, Joining sheets, bars, channels, squares, round bars, etc. falling under Chapter 72 - case of the Revenue is that these items are only structural materials used in construction and therefore are not covered under the definition of capital goods under Rule 2 (a) (A) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 - It is intriguing that the department sought to nail the tax payer on the ground that they were not able to produce in 2016-17, documents and registers which were more than thirteen years old, of 2003 vintage. It is even more interesting to note that the SCNs themselves states that the apparent irregularity came to light only at the time of verification of Cenvat Credit account by the Department. Nonetheless, if the returns have been regularly filed such a doubt should have been detected or got investigated at the time of filing of returns and certainly not thirteen years later. The entire dispute has been festering, atleast for the last thirteen years, without any light at the end of the dispute tunnel. While the impugned SCNs alleged that the appellants have wrongly availed Cenvat credit on MS sheets, angles, MS plates, channels etc., on the grounds that they are structural materials used in construction, no further illumination is extant in those notices to support such allegation. Nor is there any whisper in any of the notices, as to the exact manner of usage that these disputed items had been put to use by the appellants - when the original SCNs themselves did not in the first place refer to any supporting evidence or corroboration of the allegations therein, after as many as thirteen long years, the onus is now being put on the appellants, that the latter are unable to produce the documents. It was for the Department to have clearly substantiated their allegation with reasoning and evidence, and not the other way around. Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
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